README.md

---
title: Clanker — a creature with feelings you can read
emoji: 🤗
colorFrom: yellow
colorTo: green
sdk: gradio
app_file: gradio_app.py
pinned: false
tags:
  - thousand-token-wood
  - tiny-titan
  - off-brand
  - best-demo
---

## Clanker — a creature with feelings you can read

**Idea:** A whimsical desktop/community pet whose emotion is computed by a deterministic 7-dimension engine. Talk to it, watch it feel, and see exactly why — every number traces back to the specific words that caused it. No black box, no model weights, just readable linguistic physics.

**Tech:** Clanker runs the VADUGWI engine (Valence, Arousal, Dominance, Urgency, Gravity, Self-Worth, Intent) on your text using pure structural pattern recognition and hand-crafted force physics. The soul layer (clanker-soul) maintains a persistent emotional state that absorbs each message through armor-gated mechanics — flimsy at first, building resilience over time.

- ZERO neural model — pure readable linguistic "physics", stdlib Python
- 0 parameters — no ML, no GPU, no API calls
- Explainable: every number traces to the words that caused it
- 4,563 curated vocabulary entries with 5-wide force tuples
- 66 chess-like structural patterns detected from role sequences

**Tracks/Badges:**
- Thousand Token Wood — whimsical desktop/community pet
- Tiny Titan — 0 parameters, smaller than small
- Off Brand — distinctive non-standard UI (SVG creature room, instrument-panel VADUGWI meters)
- Best Demo — full interactive explainability with receipts for every feeling

Demo video: <TBD>

Post: <TBD>